LIQUID-TIGHT FITTING
A liquid-tight fitting comprising a ground element including a ferrule and a tube that extends from the ferrule to receive a conduit, wherein the tube includes one or more protruding elements that each protrudes from the tube and provides grounding to the conduit, and wherein the ferrule includes a lip portion; a threading element including a first shaft having a circumference sufficient to receive the ferrule portion, wherein the first shaft includes threads; a sealing ring including an opening defined by a tapered portion to seat against the lip portion; and a nut including threads to be received by the first shaft, wherein as the nut is threaded with the first shaft, the sealing ring is compressed onto an outer surface of the wall of the conduit based on a pulling of the nut against the sealing ring toward the lip portion of the ferrule.
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This application claims priority under 35. U.S.C. §119, based on U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/556,881 filed Nov. 8, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUNDConduits, such as flexible conduits, are used in a wide range of applications. Fittings, such as liquid-tight fittings, are designed to protect conduits from various types of environments, such as wet or corrosive environments. For example, liquid-tight fittings may be used in wastewater treatment applications, saltwater applications, petrochemical refining applications, and food processing applications.
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detailed description does not limit the invention.
According to an exemplary embodiment, a liquid-tight fitting includes a ground element configured to receive a conduit. According to an exemplary embodiment, the ground element includes a tube that is shaped to receive an interior wall of a conduit. For example, the tube may be of a tubular shape including a wall having an interior surface and an exterior surface. According to an exemplary embodiment, the tube includes protruding elements disposed on the exterior surface. For example, the protruding elements may be disposed along a periphery of the exterior surface of the tube and outwardly protrude from the exterior surface of the tube. According to an exemplary embodiment, the protruding elements may take the form of ribs, tabs, or fins. According to an exemplary embodiment, the protruding elements provide a frictional engagement between the tube and the interior wall of the conduit when the conduit is received. According to an exemplary embodiment, the protruding elements ground the conduit.
According to an exemplary embodiment, the ground element includes a ferrule. According to an exemplary embodiment, the ferrule includes a lip portion that is shaped to receive a tapered portion of a sealing ring.
According to an exemplary embodiment, a liquid-tight fitting includes a sealing ring having teeth. According to an exemplary embodiment, the teeth are disposed along a perimeter of an inner ring surface of the sealing ring. According to an exemplary embodiment, the teeth protrude inwardly from the inner ring surface toward a center of a space defined by the inner ring surface. According to an exemplary embodiment, the teeth provide a liquid-tight seal between an exterior surface of the conduit and the liquid-tight fitting. According to an exemplary embodiment, the teeth are compressed onto the exterior surface of the conduit based on an interaction between a gland nut, the lip portion of the ground element, and the sealing ring, as described further below.
As illustrated, according to an exemplary embodiment, gland nut 105 has an umbrella portion 200. Umbrella portion 200 may minimize or prevent contaminants (e.g., liquids, etc.) from collecting on the liquid-tight fitting 100 by diverting contaminants away from liquid-tight fitting 100. According to an exemplary embodiment, umbrella portion 200 urges sealing ring 110 and facilitates a compression of sealing ring 110, as described further below. According to an exemplary embodiment, gland nut 105 includes a series of indentations 205 and protrusions 210 along an exterior side surface of gland nut 105.
Gland nut 105 includes internal threading to be received by threading of threading element 120, as illustrated and described further below. Additionally, as illustrated and described further below, gland nut 105 compresses sealing ring 110 onto an exterior surface of a conduit
Sealing ring 110 has a ring shape. According to an exemplary embodiment, a first end of sealing ring 110 includes a lip 300. Lip 300 arcs outwardly along a perimeter of a ring-shaped opening. A second end of sealing ring 110 includes a tapered portion 305. As further illustrated, sealing ring 110 includes a neck portion 310 and a main body portion 315 between lip 300 and tapered portion 305. Main body portion 315 includes a shaft portion 320 and a curved portion 325. According to an exemplary embodiment, the exterior surfaces of neck portion 310 and main body portion 315 have a contour substantially similar to an inner surface of gland nut 105.
According to this example, teeth 330 have a V-shape. According to other embodiments, teeth 330 may be formed to have other shapes (e.g., a U-shape, a square-shape, a rectangle shape, etc.). According to an exemplary embodiment, teeth 330 may be made from rubber or other suitable material to provide a seal around the opening (and a conduit). According to an exemplary embodiment, teeth 330 may be co-formed with sealing ring 110.
Referring to
The foregoing description of embodiments provides illustration, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Accordingly, modifications to the embodiments described herein may be possible.
The terms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to be interpreted to include one or more items. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to be interpreted as “based, at least in part, on,” unless explicitly stated otherwise. The term “and/or” is intended to be interpreted to include any and all combinations of one or more of the associated items.
In the specification and illustrated by the drawings, reference is made to “an exemplary embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “embodiments,” etc., which may include a particular feature, structure or characteristic in connection with an embodiment(s). However, the use of the phrase or term “an embodiment,” “embodiments,” etc., in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to all embodiments described, nor does it necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarily mutually exclusive of other embodiment(s).
Although the invention has been described in detail above, it is expressly understood that it will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that the invention may be modified without departing from the spirit of the invention. Various changes of form, design, or arrangement may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the above-mentioned description is to be considered exemplary, rather than limiting, and the true scope of the invention is that defined in the following claims.
Claims
1. A liquid-tight fitting comprising:
- a ground element including a ferrule portion and a tube portion that extends from the ferrule portion and configured to receive an inner surface of a wall of a conduit, wherein the tube portion includes one or more protruding elements that each protrudes from the tube portion and provides grounding to the conduit, and wherein the ferrule portion includes a lip portion;
- a threading element including a first shaft having a circumference sufficient to receive the ferrule portion of the ground element, wherein the first shaft includes threads;
- a sealing ring including a first opening having a lip, and a second opening defined by a tapered portion relative to a main body of the sealing ring, wherein the tapered portion is contoured to seat against the lip portion, and wherein a neck of the sealing ring is formed between the lip and the main body; and
- a nut including threads to be received by the first shaft, wherein an interior wall of the nut is contoured to receive the sealing ring such that the lip of the sealing ring protrudes from an opening portion of the nut, and wherein as the nut is threaded with the first shaft of the threading element, the sealing ring is compressed onto an outer surface of the wall of the conduit to provide a liquid-tight seal based on the tapered portion of the sealing ring meeting with the lip portion of the ferrule portion and a pulling of the opening portion of the nut against the neck of the sealing ring.
2. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 1, wherein the one or more protruding elements include one or more ribs, one or more flexible tabs, or one or more fins.
3. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 2, wherein each of the one or more flexible tabs includes a first end portion that does not protrude from the outer surface of the tube portion and a second end portion, which is opposite to the first end portion, that protrudes from the outer surface of the tube portion.
4. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 1, wherein the tube portion of the ground element includes a tapered portion.
5. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 1, wherein an inner wall surface of the ferrule portion and the outer surface of the tube portion define a space to receive the conduit.
6. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 1, wherein a length of first shaft is substantially equivalent to a length of a wall of the ferrule portion.
7. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 1, wherein the sealing ring includes teeth disposed on a surface of an inner wall of the sealing ring.
8. A liquid-tight fitting comprising:
- a ground element including a ferrule portion and a tube portion that extends from the ferrule portion and configured to receive an inner surface of a wall of a conduit, wherein the tube portion includes one or more protruding elements that each protrudes from the tube portion and provides grounding to the conduit, and wherein the ferrule portion includes a lip portion;
- a threading element including a first shaft having a circumference sufficient to receive the ferrule portion of the ground element, wherein the first shaft includes threads;
- a sealing ring including a first opening, and a second opening defined by a tapered portion contoured to seat against the lip portion; and
- a nut including threads to be received by the first shaft, wherein an interior wall of the nut is contoured to receive the sealing ring, and wherein as the nut is threaded with the first shaft of the threading element, the sealing ring is compressed onto an outer surface of the wall of the conduit to provide a liquid-tight seal based on the tapered portion of the sealing ring meeting with the lip portion of the ferrule portion and a pulling of the nut against the sealing ring.
9. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 8, wherein the one or more protruding elements include one or more ribs, one or more flexible tabs, or one or more fins.
10. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 9, wherein each of the one or more flexible tabs includes a first end portion that does not protrude from the outer surface of the tube portion and a second end portion, which is opposite to the first end portion, that does protrude from the outer surface of the tube portion.
11. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 8, wherein the sealing ring includes teeth disposed on a surface of an inner wall of the sealing ring.
12. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 11, wherein the tapered portion of the sealing ring is inwardly tapered and the lip portion of the ferrule portion is outwardly tapered.
13. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 8, wherein one end of the tube portion includes an inward tapered portion.
14. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 8, wherein the nut includes an umbrella-shaped portion that defines an opening and the sealing ring includes a lip portion that protrudes from the opening and fits around the outer surface of the wall of the conduit.
15. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 8, wherein the ferrule portion includes a wall that defines an opening substantially equivalent to a circumference of the tube portion.
16. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 8, wherein a wall of the ferrule portion and the tube portion define a space to receive the conduit.
17. A liquid-tight fitting comprising:
- a ground element including a ferrule portion and a tube portion that extends from the ferrule portion to receive a conduit, wherein the tube portion includes one or more protruding elements that each protrudes from the tube portion and provides grounding to the conduit, and wherein the ferrule portion includes a lip portion;
- a threading element including a first shaft having a circumference sufficient to receive the ferrule portion of the ground element, wherein the first shaft includes threads;
- a sealing ring including a first opening, and a second opening defined by a tapered portion to seat against the lip portion; and
- a nut including threads to be received by the first shaft, wherein an interior wall of the nut is contoured to receive the sealing ring, and wherein as the nut is threaded with the first shaft, the sealing ring is compressed onto the conduit to provide a liquid-tight seal, wherein a compression of the sealing ring is based on a pulling of the nut against the sealing ring toward the lip portion of the ferrule portion.
18. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 17, wherein the one or more protruding elements include one or more ribs, one or more flexible tabs, or one or more fins.
19. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 17, wherein one end of the tube portion includes an inward tapered portion.
20. The liquid-tight fitting of claim 17, wherein the nut includes an umbrella-shaped portion that defines an opening and the sealing ring includes a lip portion that protrudes from the opening and fits around the conduit.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 8, 2012
Publication Date: May 9, 2013
Patent Grant number: 8910980
Applicant: THOMAS & BETTS INTERNATIONAL, INC. (Wilmington, DE)
Inventor: THOMAS & BETTS INTERNATIONAL, INC. (Wilmington, DE)
Application Number: 13/647,025